| HISTORY
I am a 37 year-old woman from Medford. I have lived there my whole life. I have always been a registered democrat and sit on the Medford Democratic Committee in Ward 8. I graduated from Salem State College in 1993 with a BS in Business-Finance and then attended Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law/Yeshiva University in New York where I obtained my Juris Doctorate in 1997. I passed both the Massachusetts and New York Bar Exams in 1997 and was admitted into the practice of law in the Commonwealth in December 1997. I began working as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County in early 1998. I was then contracted to work with the Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division on the criminal prosecution of non-support cases. There, I became involved in civil enforcement cases (i.e., contempts) within the Probate and Family Court in Cambridge (MPC). By that time, the Register had been suspended and replaced by a "Temporary Acting Register" (who is also the current Temporary Acting Register). While there I experienced the same situations with which other attorneys on this site would probably agree: lost records, lack of security for documents, a black hole for cases in scheduling future events or trials and outdated facilities.
When the Register was ultimately removed from Office, a special election was called in 2000. I initially had no interest in running...until I saw the qualifications of some of the people who were running. There was a security guard, police officer, teacher, and cable TV Host. I have no objection to these professions, however, it made me wonder: how much better would my professional life be if any of these people won the seat? So, I decided to "put up or shut up" again. So, I pulled papers, got signatures and campaigned. Although I won my hometown and neighboring Malden and had a fair showing for a non-political name, I did not win the nomination. I was soooo green. I did not realize that name placement on the ballot was important, how much regional voting plays a part, or that there was such a thing as voter association.
John Buonomo won that election in a recount. He ran again in 2002 and had a democratic opponent - one of the people that ran in 2000. I supported the incumbent and eventual democratic nominee. In 2003 a position was posted in the Middlesex Probate and Family Court. I applied, interviewed and was appointed by the Register with the approval of the Chief Justice of the Trial Court to the position of Administrative Deputy Assistant Register, the position I still hold today.
EXPERIENCE
When I arrived at MPC, it was as difficult a place to navigate as I anticipated. Some changes had been made, but there were still many more that were needed. However, never being one to change for the sake of change, I made it a point, when I first began at the Registry, to attempt every job our employees performed to assess needs, process and flow. I assisted at the counter (very difficult), I answered the telephone, I processed the mail, I worked in the Files Department, I docketed cases and I made sure that I never asked someone to perform a task that I had not tried at least once myself. This is how I earned the respect of the Registry staff.
I will provide the rest in bullet points, which I can explain in detail if anyone would like, please just let me know:
• I supervise the Registry on a daily basis. I oversee the personnel, handling all staffing issues, including interviews and recommendations for promotions, department coverage, and cross-training. I work with the union employees to insure that they are reclassified up to a position that is consistent with their job duties. And perform basic troubleshooting.
• I oversaw the creation of the Family Law Information Center, which is geared towards assisting pro se (unrepresented) litigants and domestic violence victims. I made sure that there were panic buttons installed in different areas of that department linked directly to security. It provides privacy for the Lawyer of the Day Program and is the location I chose for the introduction of the Senior Partners for Justice Program, as well as two other outside programs that provide pro bono services for indigent or unrepresented litigants.
• In reviewing Operations, we regained oversight of the Appeals Department which had been staffed by judicial employees who had full-time duties in other areas of the Court. This led to a special project to locate and catalogue all exhibits and transcripts, creating a tracking system for easy identification and access.
• I was responsible for initiating the bar coding and scanning of court documents in Middlesex County, which is the precursor viewing court documents online.
• I am the liaison with the judiciary within the Middlesex County Probate and Family Court.
• While I was working with the Judiciary Court implemented the individual calendar system, I identified and processed an enormous backlog of over 400 cases awaiting trial and over 600 cases still awaiting pretrials.
• I sat on the Committee on Time Standards and was responsible for training all Registry personnel with the requirements of this new standing order which clearly informs attorneys and litigants of how long they should expect their cases to active before final disposition. This lead into piloting Next Event Scheduling in conjunction with the judiciary, monitoring case processing, and training court personnel on computerized scheduling.
• I currently sit on the committee for the Probate and Family Court Department within the Trial Court, which is responsible for the set up and roll out of MassCourts, the new computer system being implemented statewide. I have trained two other counties on this system and am the only expert on this system in Middlesex County.
• I have worked with the Outreach Program, which was developed and funded last year to provide information to the communities in Middlesex County regarding probate and family law issues and processes and be more proactive.
As of last week, the Registry is docketing all documents within two (2) days of hearing or filing. Scanning is up-to-date with a one-day turn around between docketing and recirculation of the files. The Court has a 99% success rate in having files ready for use in the courtrooms and we have identified that the 1% is usually due to a late add-on or request.
I understand that you are receiving a lot of information from candidates, but the information is sometimes inaccurate or erroneous or just plain uninformative. If you have any questions for me, please post them and I will answer. I do want to let you know, however, that the information I have provided is what has already happened, not what is in the pipeline for the Court because, crazy as it may sound, no one else running has the insight into the functioning of the Court like I do and I believe that people will read the information I am giving and use it as their own when they do not have a clue as to what is actually going on in the Court. There is still a lot that needs to be done, but none of it happens overnight and to put someone in the position of Register that is not familiar with everything in place will only set Middlesex back again.
Do you know that MPC houses three independent entities, the Judiciary, the Registry and the Probation Department? Do you know that we file over 20,000 new cases a year? Do you know that we never consider a case inactive? That there is a concern with identity theft considering the information that is contained in most of our files? Especially when the Court goes live? And that although the new Uniform Probate Code has some great positives, there are some administrative nightmares to some of its requirements? That there is a walk-in policy for uncontested divorces that requires additional coverage in the divorce department to insure all departmental needs are met? They don't, but I do because I work there and because I have been obligated to look at it from a different perspective than someone from the outside...and that makes all the difference.
I do not believe that any other candidate has the knowledge that I have or the experience that I have gained or the working relationship with the First Justice and Chief Probation Officer that I have established. I have gained that trust and experience and I work hard and I continue to strive for what is not only best for the Court, but best for the public at large.
I would appreciate your consideration and your support to be the democratic nominee for this position. I have a website: www.taradecristofaro.com which I just got up and running, but where I will post more information. Thank you. |
